Younger Me
Q: The band just released new music, right?
A: We record all of our music ourselves. I do most of the engineering. It's what I went to school for. So, all of the tracking of our albums is done in my basement. And the album we released last year, I mixed that, and then we sent it out to get mastered by somebody else. The two songs that were on the 7-inch record that we just released -- we had a guy "¦ from New York (do) the mixing. (We went) to an outside company to get everything pressed. It's just kind of money upfront on our end that's the big challenge for bands like us. We do save a lot by doing our own recording.
Q: Why did you go with the 7-inch vinyl?
A: We released CDs for our last album. We ... think that the CD is dying, if not dead. Releasing things digitally is just not that fun for us. I still like the idea of selling a product and people coming and buying our music and ... holding it in their hand. Vinyl is more popular than it used to be. All of us in the band almost prefer to buy vinyl over CDs. It was always something we wanted to do -- to have vinyl from our own band that we could have and then other people could have. We just had these two extra songs that kind of really didn't fit with anything else that we had written, so it was just kind of a perfect situation.
Q: Do you think it's also a novelty?
A: I think so. Eventually (for) some of our next releases, we'll release a full 12-inch vinyl. It's just nice to have the artwork big. It's something to hold and something to have. A CD just gets thrown away or just ends up on a shelf. It gets copied to your computer, and then it's gone. It feels like (vinyl has) more value to the person who owns it.
Q: How did the band get together?
A: We first started playing "¦ in the summer of 2011. Brandt and I ... played in a band in high school. It had been awhile since we kind of did something official. We started writing music (and) recording things and using ... electronic drums. The fun element of playing music live with a drummer "¦ just wasn't there. Brant grew up with Ian, who is a drummer. So, we asked him to come. That summer and fall and winter (we) were just kind of jamming (and) figuring out what we wanted to do. For a while, I was playing some guitar and playing some keys and (working) with loop pedal live. We played our first show in April of 2012. We ended up releasing our first album in November of (2012).
Q: Where do you play?
A: We've played a few shows in Philly. Our bassist Brandt, went to Temple (University). He has some friends who are kind of hooked into the Philly scene. We've played The Fire, MilkBoy (and) a few house shows. Recently, we sent stuff to (WXPN-FM) and they've (played) a few of our songs on the radio and kind of featuring us on their blog. We've played a lot at The Depot. We played one show at Tellus360 in Lancaster. They're currently undergoing renovations and kind of building that up. We had the show coming up at Beer Mongers and (we also played) the Sign of the Wagon in York.
Q: How would you classify your sound and style?
A: I guess indie pop is what we have settled on. We use a loop pedal ... so it's very repetitive and dance-y. It sounds electronic ... but then it's also really kind of dirty and live, like older Motown/garage rock type of thing. It's a blend of old and new and a blend of clean and dirty.
Q: Who are your influences?
A: When the bassist Brandt and I sat down to make a band, we wanted it to sound like the band Pinback -- kind of an obscure indie band. I don't really think we go there. We listen to a lot of indie rock and ... weirder, experimental pop. Also lately, I've been getting really into ... the Motown stuff and older '60s music when pop music was rock 'n' roll.
Q: Are you friends with any other local musicians?
A: We went to high school with Colin (Reeves), who's the mandolin player in the band HogMaw. They're a bluegrass band. And we went to high school with the guys who were in Dr. Slothclaw, and they're like a punk jam band. A lot of our friends play music, but we're all in these really different genres, so it's hard to play together. We played a few shows with Cold Fronts ... but they're mainly out of Philly now.
Q: Do you think York's music scene is growing?
A: I think so. I think there (are) definitely opportunities for musicians to play in York, which is kind of like step one. Pretty much every time there's a new bar or a place that opens, they end up having music. I would say it's budding. Where it's going to go, I'm not sure. There's music, but it can tend to be the same people ... doing the loop in York. My only concern with the York scene is that it could play itself out. I hope it can continue to get better. It just needs artists to play and people to support it.
Q: What do you have coming up through the next few months?
A: We're finishing tracking another release, which will be like a five-song EP. We're also writing another full-length album that should be out sometime in 2014 -- maybe by next summer. (We're) just playing as much as possible. We're trying to play Philly and New York. We're going to do a little mini tour right at the end of the year. We're really in a good spot. New York's a short drive. Philly's a short drive. Baltimore's a short drive. Then, we have York, Lancaster (and) Harrisburg.
Contact Erin McCracken at 717-771-2051.
If you go
Younger Me will perform Saturday, Nov. 23, at Beer Mongers, 3000 S. Queen St., York Township. For details, call 717-501-4251 or visit www.facebook.com/BeerMongers.
About the band
Members: Brandt Imhoff, Ian Hermanns and Brent Gregory
Website:youngermemusic.com
Read more band interviews:www.flipsidepa.com/musicdirectory